3:40 PM,
Nov. 19, 2012

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin speaks at the Kress Center during a campaign appearance Oct. 19 on the UW-Green Bay campus.

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The first impression Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin gives can be extremely misleading, perhaps dangerously so for a potential political opponent.

Baldwin's soft-spoken, mild-mannered demeanor appears to be at odds with the character traits of someone who just survived one of the most negative political campaigns of the season.

But underneath Baldwin's veneer of serenity, longtime friends and allies say, is a quiet determination and strength that has enabled her to succeed in the oft-times rough-and-tumble world of politics, breaking barriers along the way as an openly gay woman. ...